3 levels of dependent arising of a tuxedo cat

JaySon

1. The tuxedo cat exists dependently upon endless causes and conditions: water, Friskies, sunlight, atoms, oxygen, etc.

2. The tuxedo cat exists dependently upon the sum of his little kitty parts: ears, black and white fur, tail, four legs, paws, claws, etc.

3. The tuxedo cat exists dependently upon a the label "tuxedo cat" projected by the mind onto its base.

federica

Is the tuxedo cat aware of all of this, or is he in a complete moggy-fog?

JaySon

@federica said:
Is the tuxedo cat aware of all of this, or is he in a complete moggy-fog?

He cares only for wet food.

silver

Ah let's hear it for embellished reality (imagination - maybe where the gods come from).

pegembara

The cat is seen, felt, heard and cognized. Its existence is a dependent arising. We see a hat, a monocle and a bow tie. Also the eyes, nose, whiskers and the human parody.
The cat only sees the mouse.

"Dependent on the eye & forms there arises consciousness at the eye. The meeting of the three is contact. With contact as a requisite condition, there arises what is felt either as pleasure, pain, or neither pleasure nor pain. If, when touched by a feeling of pleasure, one relishes it, welcomes it, or remains fastened to it, then one's passion-obsession gets obsessed. If, when touched by a feeling of pain, one sorrows, grieves, & laments, beats one's breast, becomes distraught, then one's resistance-obsession gets obsessed. If, when touched by a feeling of neither pleasure nor pain, one does not discern, as it actually is present, the origination, passing away, allure, drawback, or escape from that feeling, then one's ignorance-obsession gets obsessed. That a person — without abandoning passion-obsession with regard to a feeling of pleasure, without abolishing resistance-obsession with regard to a feeling of pain, without uprooting ignorance-obsession with regard to a feeling of neither pleasure nor pain, without abandoning ignorance and giving rise to clear knowing — would put an end to suffering & stress in the here & now: such a thing isn't possible.
"Dependent on the ear & sounds...
"Dependent on the nose & aromas...
"Dependent on the tongue & flavors...
"Dependent on the body & tactile sensations...
"Dependent on the intellect & ideas there arises consciousness at the intellect. The meeting of the three is contact.

Chachakka Sutta

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.148.than.html

"By & large, Kaccayana, this world is supported by (takes as its object) a polarity, that of existence & non-existence. But when one sees the origination of the world as it actually is with right discernment, 'non-existence' with reference to the world does not occur to one. When one sees the cessation of the world as it actually is with right discernment, 'existence' with reference to the world does not occur to one.
"'Everything exists': That is one extreme . 'Everything doesn't exist': That is a second extreme. Avoiding these two extremes, the Tathagata teaches the Dhamma via the middle: From ignorance as a requisite condition come fabrications. From fabrications as a requisite condition comes consciousness. From consciousness as a requisite condition comes name-&-form. From name-&-form as a requisite condition come the six sense media. From the six sense media as a requisite condition comes contact. From contact as a requisite condition comes feeling. From feeling as a requisite condition comes craving. From craving as a requisite condition comes clinging/sustenance. From clinging/sustenance as a requisite condition comes becoming. From becoming as a requisite condition comes birth. From birth as a requisite condition, then aging & death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair come into play. Such is the origination of this entire mass of stress & suffering.
Kaccayanagotta Sutta

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn12/sn12.015.than.html

silver

I especially liked and enjoyed the second 'box', @pegembara.
Thanks for sharing.